You Suck!
by Sabby1
Summary: A chance encounter in New York City reunites Ha Jae Kyung with a member of the F4. She sets out for revenge, but gets more than she bargained for.


New York City is always noisy and busy. It's full of strangers and there is no quiet place anywhere. Even your thoughts have to fight their way through the constant chatter and clatter of millions of people and thousands of cars on the tightly packed streets and sidewalks. Ha Jae Kyung loves it with all her heart. She came here after her disastrous attempt at conquering Gu Jun Pyo's love and has not left since. That was three years ago. She spent the first year drowning her thoughts in the noise and bustle of this city, and walking through the soles of the pretty ballerina shoes that she had taken as her 'one special memory' when she left Seoul. When the day came that she finally threw them in the trash she felt liberated. On that day she knew, she had truly let go of her feelings for Jun Pyo. Even now that she is free, she still enjoys walking, drifting with the throngs of people like one fish carried down the roaring torrent surrounded by a giant school of fellow fish; never touching but always close. That is why she doesn't notice until it's too late and she collides with a hard chest that sends her careening backwards, falling hard on her rear as she hits the ground.

"Hey, watch it, jerk!"

"So sorry, my bad!" The accent in the resonant voice is so thick she recognizes it immediately and her eyes fly up from the hand held out in front of her nose to the face of the stupid carp who tried to swim against the stream.

"Song Woo Bin?"

"Ha Jae Kyung?" He grabs her hand and pulls her up before she gets the chance to protest. "Nice Surprise!"

"What are you doing here?" She wipes the dirt off her jeans and gives him a curious look.

He replies with a lazy smile: "I'm in town for business for a week, I didn't think I'd run into anyone I know. What are you doing here?"

"I live here, idiot." She doesn't know why she's so hostile, but something about his easy going, cool as a cucumber attitude has always rubbed her just the wrong way.

"Oh, cool." He's still smirking and she can feel her eyelid start to twitch with irritation. "Anyway, I'll be going now," she says curtly as she starts to take a step to go past him, but he mirrors her motions, putting himself squarely in the way again.

"Hey, since we're both here, do you want to go out sometime?"

"Huh?" Her eyes go wide as she stares at the stupid carp in disbelief. "You want to go out with me?"

"Yeah, why not?" He shrugs carelessly and cocks his head as he waggles his impressive eyebrows. "Gonna show me a good time?" The broad Korean twang in his voice makes the line sound even cheesier than it would have in perfect American English.

She rolls her eyes and wonders what in the world he is thinking, asking her out. They only went out together once, back in Seoul, and that was only because Woo Bin and the Casanova Yi Jeong were trying to keep her away from Geum Jan Di and Jun Pyo. She can feel a cruel smile tugging at her lips as she thinks of chicken feet and karaoke. Don Juan-Woo Bin is in for a nasty surprise.

"Sure." Her smile is all teeth as her eyes gleam with malicious intent. "Tell me where you're staying and I'll pick you up at eight."

It's eight-oh-five as she gracefully strides through the entrance hall of the Waldorf-Astoria on dangerously high black heels. She is wearing a sleeveless golden sequined top and a black mini skirt that barely reaches mid-thigh; right now, all that is covered up by a sensible black trench coat. She steps into the ornate elevator and tells the attendant which button to push. When the doors close, she checks that her dark brown hair is still neatly pulled back and curling inwards at the nape of her neck, where it is held together by a small golden clip. Woo Bin's rooms are on the penthouse floor, of course. She doesn't know why her heart is beating faster with every glowing number on the panel above the doors. She tells herself it's because of the excitement over what she has in store for the stupid carp.

"Have a good evening, ma'am." The attendant tells her with an hourly-wage smile as she exits the elevator.

She straightens her back in front of the white door and knocks twice with determination.

He opens the door and her eyes flick over him instinctively to judge his outfit. Woo Bin is wearing a shiny, eggplant colored suit with a pinstriped pink shirt underneath and a plum colored tie. His shoes are made from genuine crocodile skin. Their outfits will clash horribly. Her eyelid twitches in irritation.

"Jae Kyung, right on time."

She is seven minutes late and they both know it. Her eyelid twitches again.

"Let's go!" he hollers in broken English and grabs her hand as he pulls her back in the direction of the elevators.

"Woah! Stupid, slow down!" She stumbles over her high heels but manages to stay upright as she tries to keep up with him.

He looks back over his shoulder with a dazzling smile and her heart accidentally skips over a couple of beats. She squeezes his fingers hard in revenge and in three large hops jumps past him to take the lead. "You don't even know where we're going, so you follow me!"

When they arrive on the ground floor she's given up on graceful striding and is now determinedly stomping ahead on her heels. Only when she opens the door of the taxi cab to get in she realizes she never let go of his hand. She pulls away quickly and shoves both her hands between her knees once she sits down, trapping them firmly. Woo Bin is still grinning like the stupid carp that he is. "So, where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there," she says confidently and leans forward to tell the driver, "Canal and Mott."

"Yes, ma'am."

She turns back around and catches Woo Bin's dark eyes go wide for the blink of an eye before he returns to his cool as a cucumber expression. She grins like a cat that ate the canary and washed it down with a bowl of cream.

While Woo Bin pays for the taxi she stretches her legs and takes in the sight around her. Chinatown at night could be mistaken for Hong Kong in the blink of an eye. Brightly colored fluorescent hanzi are everywhere and the majority of the people surrounding them are Asian. The grocery stores are closed but most of the trinket shops are open, many of the street vendors are still there and all the bars and restaurants are beckoning new customers. She knows exactly where she wants to go, but she'll be damned if she doesn't make him suffer through shopping first. "Ready?" She knows he isn't.

"Game on!" He grins coolly and holds out a hand motioning her to go ahead.

Her eyelid twitches again. She really hates it when he uses gratuitous English.

Two hours later it is ten-thirty and Jae Kyung's feet are killing her but she would never admit it. She has dragged him past 4 blocks worth of hole-in-the wall shops and street vendors and she's already made him eat chicken feet and fried grasshoppers, twice, and he still hasn't called for mercy. She is ready to throw up her hands in defeat. Even the aura picture she made him take proves he is happy as a carp in a koi-pond, showing nothing but bright warm colors. Meanwhile, hers is an ugly mass of dark, angry black. There is only one last resort: karaoke and alcohol, lots of alcohol. She remembers clearly that he is unable to hold his liquor. The memory of Casanova and Don Juan hurling their guts out over the side of a railing makes her giggle and clap her hands in glee.

"I'm glad you're having fun. Where to next?" Woo Bin sounds as serene as a summer breeze.

Jae Kyung's fingers fold together mid clap and she squeezes her knuckles hard in irritation. "Karaoke!" she proclaims loudly.

"Okay, let's go!"

She almost screams. Almost, but then she stumbles over a pot-hole and pain shoots through her heel and up her leg, so searing hot she has to hold her breath as tears swell behind her eyes.

"Let's go," she echoes in her own broken English, silently cursing the stupid high heels. There is nothing for it, they'll have to take a short cut or she won't make it to the karaoke bar she has in mind. There are a couple of alleys that cut through the major streets, making the walk five times shorter. It is a mercy that Woo Bin is a slow walker despite his outrageously long legs. He almost walks too slowly, as if he's doing it on purpose. Jae Kyung shakes her head to get rid of that thought and soldiers on.

They are halfway down the second alley when she hears it. Footsteps are coming up behind them and all of a sudden there are three guys, stepping out from behind the row of dumpsters in front of them. It's an ambush.

"My, what have we here?" Their leader, the one in the middle, drawls in Cantonese.

Jae Kyung stops and shifts her weight, trying to ignore the pain in her feet as she takes a defensive stance. She flicks her eyes over to Woo Bin and sees that he's doing the same, looking over his shoulder behind them. A memory flashes through her mind of strong hands tightening brown leather gloves. At least she knows he's a decent fighter.

"Leave us alone," she says loudly. "I think it's fair to warn you, I am a black-belt, and he's not too shabby at fighting either."

Woo Bin takes his eyes off the guys behind them and looks at her with narrowed eyes. "Just so you know, I am a Thai boxing pro."

"Oh." She blinks and then shrugs. "Eh, whatever."

"Oy, oy, oy!" The leader takes another step towards them. "You shouldn't have such a big mouth. Girls who don't know when to shut up are ugly whores. Now give me your money!"

Woo Bin's attention immediately snaps back to the leader of the gang. "What did you just say? Apologize, immediately."

"I said: she's an ugly who-" Before he can finish the word, Woo Bin rushes forward and punches him in the mouth, sending him reeling back.

Then all hell breaks loose and Jae Kyung forgets all about the pain in her feet because now they are fighting for their lives, two against six, and she's not even wearing pants! She feels one of them try to grab her from behind and ducks at just the right moment, using his momentum to throw him over her shoulder and onto the ground where she delivers a gut wrenching stomp to his ribs, breaking her heel in the process. But the next one is already gaining on her and she doesn't have time to turn quickly enough, seeing his fist come within centimeters of her face before a strong hand grabs it and twists the assailant's arm brutally away from her. With no time to think, she gets up and fends off a third opponent with a swift uppercut to his chin. Woo Bin is taking on the guy who almost punched her, and two others that are surrounding him, dealing a series of blows and kicks so quickly that she almost can't follow the movements with her eyes. It can't be more than two minutes before the fight is over and she is standing in the middle of the alley, one shoe still on her foot, the other broken on the ground a few paces away. Woo Bin is standing over the leader, one crocodile leather shoe planted firmly on the guy's chest and his handsome face a mask of pure fury. "Apologize, now!"

Jae Kyung vaguely hears the other guys run away behind her, but she is too dumbstruck by the view in front of her to turn around and look.

The gang leader's nose is broken and bleeding profusely and one of his eyes is already swelling shut as he looks up in complete terror. His eyes jitter back and forth between her and Woo Bin. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Let me go."

Woo Bin raises his foot and gives the guy another kick to the ribs. "Get lost!" he yells in English, watching the guy scramble away with a furious glare.

When he turns around his expression changes immediately and he flashes a roguish grin before he notices the state she's in.

"Whoa, are you alright?" He's at her side in an instant, reaching for her arm as if she needs it to keep her steady.

"Of course, I'm fine. It's not the first time I've had to deal with…" Her eyes move down her own body and she sees that her trench coat is wide open; there is a giant tear in her mini skirt and her top is scrunched up under her breasts. She's also got a skinned knee and her bare foot is bleeding. But that could have been from the stupid heels. She looks like a complete mess! "What the hell? That was my favorite skirt!" She screams in the direction that the gang has run off. "You assholes!" She's ready to go after them for another round and stomps her bare foot on the ground. Bad move. She almost passes out from the pain radiating up her leg, but instead of hitting the ground she feels like she's bouncing off a cloud back up into the air and when she opens her eyes again, she is presented with the view of shiny eggplant colored silk where she's curled up against Woo Bin's shoulder, being held bridal style against his chest.

"I think you've had enough fighting for one night, warrior princess," he says with a smile.

Her eyes go wide and her face rears up, nearly knocking him in the chin. "What are you doing? I can stand on my own. Put me down!" She starts flailing her legs over his arm but he's stubborn so she has to wiggle a lot until he finally lets go of her and puts her back on the ground feet first. Bad move again. Her feet really hurt.

"Stubborn woman." He grunts and before she has time to register what's happening, he's picking her up again, but this time her whole world goes upside down and she finds herself face to rear because he's slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"What are you doing? Put me down! Put me down, right now! Who do you think you are?" She starts flailing again but he's got her legs in a strong grip around her knees and her fists are bouncing off his broad back as if she's hitting a concrete wall. He's completely ignoring her protests!

"Why are you wearing these shoes?" he says instead. "Clearly, they're useless in a fighting situation, or for just walking for that matter." She feels him pry off the remaining high heel and hears it land in the dumpster up ahead with a clang.

"My shoes! How dare you!" She starts beating at his back again and even contemplates biting him. "I said put me down, you stupid carp! I can walk by myself! If you don't put me down, I'm gonna…"

"What?" His hand comes down on her butt with a loud crack. "You're going to scream until I go deaf? Don't be an idiot and just let me take you home. I promise I won't tell anyone that the warrior princess needed help."

Her face flushes bright red with irritation and humiliation. He spanked her like a little kid, and now he's going to carry her down the streets like this? She'll just die of embarrassment! Why is he doing this to her?

"Why?" She sniffles and wipes her nose on the back of her hand.

"Why, what?" he asks as he starts walking down the alley in long strides. He's moving faster now than he was when they were shopping.

"Why won't you ever give up?" She wipes her hand on his jacket in revenge.

She feels his back shake as he laughs. "Because you've got spunk, and I like that in a woman, warrior princess." He gives her another, softer swat on her rear.

Jae Kyung huffs out a breath and finally goes limp over his back. "You suck, Song Woo Bin."

Instead of taking her home, he takes her back to his penthouse in the Waldorf. To his credit, he lets her walk through the entrance hall and into the elevator on her own two feet, but the moment the elevator doors close behind them on the penthouse floor, she's swung back up over his shoulder, despite all protests. She's stewing in fury and contemplating murder, so she squawks in surprise when she finds her world going upside down and right side up again as he suddenly bends over and deposits her onto the giant soft mattress of the king size bed.

They are nose to nose and her eyes go wide as saucers because all she can see is his shiny white teeth and grinning lips before a finger is pointed at her nose. She stares at it cross eyed as he says: "Don't move."

Her heart trips over several beats and she feels like he has nailed her to the mattress with his penetrating gaze. Before she realizes that she's obeying his command, he's gone and come back again with a bowl of water and a handful of band-aids.

"Really, what were you thinking, wearing those shoes?" A cool hand grabs her ankle and she rears up straight in shock.

"What? That's none of your business, what I'm wearing." She tries to pull away her leg, but the grip on her ankle tightens and she hisses in pain.

"Hold still or I'll have to tie you up like a ham." His eyes look up at her and she can see he means it.

"Like you could," she retorts with a glare.

"Don't tempt me," he says as he's dabbing her sore foot with a warm washcloth. "I might enjoy it a little too much."

"Pervert." But for some reason she doesn't pull away again. The warm water does feel really good on her poor abused foot.

A gust of cool air blows gently over the back of her heel and goosebumps run all the way up from her leg to the back of her neck. His lips are still pursed when he glances up at her and she can just tell that he's already enjoying this too much.

"Pervert," she says again and kicks his shoulder with her other foot. "You suck!"

He laughs and grabs the kicking foot to treat it with warm water, just like the first. "This one looks worse, maybe I should get the peroxide."

She cuts off her squeak of terror a little too late. "No, that's fine. Water's fine."

"I thought so," he says with a grin.

She watches him silently as he fixes the band-aids to both heels and the side of her right foot where she got a huge blister from the tight shoes. He has taken off his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves to the elbows. The first two buttons are undone, showing a crisp white undershirt. He looks even more attractive like that, when he isn't all put together… "Ah!" She screams as she realizes what she just thought. Attractive? No way.

"Sorry," he mumbles and gently puts her foot down. "All done."

Sorry? What is he sorry for? It's her stupid brain that decided to take a leave of absence and think that he was attractive. Oh, right. He must think it was something he did to her feet.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." She looks at her feet and frowns in dismay. They really were stupid shoes to be wearing. Not that she will ever admit that to Woo Bin.

"So, do you still want to do karaoke?" He gets up from the floor and picks up the washbowl and trash from the band-aids. "I've got a Playstation3, if you want to." His smile is so damn cool he should be spitting ice-cubes.

Jae Kyung opens her mouth to protest but her stomach cuts her off before she can say anything, growling loudly.

Woo Bin laughs and shakes his head at her as she feels her face flaming up in embarrassment.

"Food first, got it." As he walks off towards the bathroom, he adds: "But I'll order this time. No more chicken feet and fried grasshoppers." She sees his shoulders shake with a shudder of disgust. Hah! So she was successful in making him suffer.

"Fine, you big baby! But don't forget to order some rice-wine!"

He stops in the doorway with his back to her, not moving a muscle for a long moment before he shrugs. "Fine, but I won't be responsible for my actions if you get me drunk."

Only when the bathroom door closes behind him does his warning finally sink in and her eyes go wide. Oh, sheesh. What did she just get herself into?

When she finally wakes up her head is pounding as if there was an entire marching band having band practice inside her skull. She pulls the blanket further over her head and tries to block out the obnoxious sunlight coming from the window. At least the bed is warm and soft and it smells good, like 'Obsession for Men'. The legs tangled with hers are pretty warm too, just like the chest she's leaning on. Jae Kyung's eyes snap open. Legs? Chest? Obsession? She screams so loud it feels like her head explodes and she jumps upright until she's standing on the bed.

"Woman, shut up! I can't sleep when you're screaming like that."

She stops abruptly, swallows hard and looks down herself to make sure she's still dressed. She's wearing a long white undershirt and black shorts. Good, she's dressed. Wait. Undershirt? Shorts? She screams again.

"I said shut up!" One large hand grabs her ankle and she tumbles back onto the bed, face first into the pillows.

Then the hand on her leg suddenly lets go. She feels it on the back of her head and slowly, carefully, that hand is pulling her head up and turning it to look at her face.

"Jae Kyung?" Woo Bin's eyes are as wide and shocked as her own when they're finally staring at each other.

"Uh, oh," he says stupidly. "What did we do?"

"What did we do?" She jumps up again in outrage and starts hitting him. "What did we do? How can you ask 'what did we do' when we're lying in bed and I'm wearing nothing but your underwear? What did we do? I'll kill you if you don't remember!"

The pain in her head is getting worse and she groans as she collapses on the bed in complete humiliation. "What did we do?" she whispers frantically to herself.

She closes her eyes and tries to think through the pounding in her head. They ordered food and rice-wine. The dish was something Italian with lots of pasta. And then they started drinking. She remembers singing two or three karaoke songs on the Playstation3. Then he pulled out 'Soul Calibur IV' and the war was on. And then...nothing. She doesn't remember either. "Nothing," she whispers fiercely and then repeats it louder, "nothing!" Until she finds proof otherwise, there is no reason to believe that anything happened, because if anything did happen she would remember it, right? She jumps from the bed and starts anxiously looking around the room, hoping to find nothing out of the ordinary. What she sees makes her heart sink. The bed is a complete mess and there are gutted pillows on the ground and feathers all over the floor. She follows a trail of clothes, gaping openmouthed in disbelief at his socks and shoes, her torn skirt, his shirt, his pants, her top and at last a bra slung over the door handle of the bathroom. Her eyes go wide and she peeks down inside of the undershirt she's wearing; there is nothing underneath.

"Oh, god." The world fades to black in front of her eyes and she crumbles to the floor. "Oh, god."

Woo Bin is behind her and she feels his hand on her naked shoulder, sending chills down her spine. "It's okay. This doesn't mean anything."

Her stomach rolls, and a nasty taste rises up her throat. She turns gracelessly onto her hands and knees and makes a dash for the bathroom. It feels like everything she ever ate in her life is coming back up and she squeezes her eyes shut against the humiliation and pain as she retches into the toilet bowl.

Again, he shows up behind her and she feels a cool washcloth pressed to her forehead as he uses his other hand to flush the toilet. She can't even summon up the will to slap his hand away as hot tears roll down her cheeks. This is not how she wanted her first time to be. This is the exact opposite of what she wanted her first time to be.

She lets him gather her up like a doll and sit her down on the edge of the bathtub. She doesn't even move when he pulls away and she lets him put a glass of water in her hand as if she's a sick child.

"Drink this," he says. His voice is so gentle it's almost hard to recognize that it's him.

The shock is too much. Fat, hot tears keep rolling down her cheeks as she sips at the water and wills the floor underneath her feet to open up and swallow her whole. She gave away the most special thing last night to a guy who has probably already bedded more girls than she's met in her life. "Kill me, now."

"Okay, that's enough!" The harsh tone in his voice makes her look up reflexively and hold on tighter to the glass.

"I realize this is not the best situation to wake up in, but don't you think if we did it at least one of us would remember?"

Jae Kyung chews on her lower lip and tries to think really hard past the pounding in her skull. She hates to admit it, but he has a point. He's not even her type.

"Well," he says with an expectant look on his face, "do you remember?"

She shakes her head slowly, holding her breath until the room stops spinning.

"Yeah, neither do I. So clearly, nothing happened."

"But…" She points ever so slowly at the clothes on the bedroom floor.

Woo Bin rolls his eyes and grabs the glass from her, finishing the rest of the water in a few big gulps. When he puts the glass down, the clanking sound it makes on the porcelain sink is like a final bell. "It's not like I was going to sleep in my suit, right? I've always been a bit messy. I'm telling you, nothing happened."

She should accept that. She wants to accept that and move on with her life without the big stain of giving it away to Don Juan on their first date. "But…" Her eyes slowly shift towards her bra, the most incriminating object of proof, dangling from the door handle.

Woo Bin looks at the lacy black garment and purses his lips. She can almost see the wheels turning in his head before he snaps out of it and shakes his head determinedly. "I guess, you're just a bit messy, too." Suddenly, he starts snickering and she has to watch helplessly as he picks up the bra and holds it up by the straps.

"Nice," he drawls in his horrible English. "You really shouldn't be leaving those out where any old 'pervert' can catch a glimpse of them."

That is enough to snap her out of it. She jumps up and snatches the underwear from his hand, glaring daggers at him. "Bastard! How could you let me think we'd done it?"

His mouth falls open and he scoffs. "Let you think? You were the one who jumped to conclusions! You didn't even have the decency to let me sleep in, what with you screaming like a banshee."

"Like a…" Her eyes narrow to thin slits and she doesn't even think about what she's doing as she starts lashing at him with her bra. "I'll give you screaming like a banshee, you stupid carp! Excuse me for not being like all the floozies you take to bed with you! I actually have a reputation to lose!" She's picking up steam and chasing him out of the bathroom now, advancing with vicious swipes against his chest as he back paddles into the bedroom. "And just who do you think you are? Huh? Don Juan-Woo Bin-Casanova-Lady-Killer! I'd have to hang myself if we did it!"

"Now, wait just a minute!" He suddenly stops in his tracks and grabs both her wrists, keeping her from pelting him anymore. "Where do you get the idea that I sleep with all the girls I date. I have standards, you know!"

That statement is so incongruous her arms go slack in his grip and she just stares at him for a second. Then she can't help it. She busts out laughing. "You…" She gulps in a lungful of air between guffaws. "Standards…" She wonders if he even realizes what he just said. "Date sure, but sleep…" She's completely losing it now, breaking down in peals of laughter against his shoulder.

At first he's holding himself completely stiff, but then she can feel it. He's chuckling at first and then his whole chest is shaking with laughter.

When she pulls back, still snickering, his eyes are sparkling with humor. "Yeah, that was a bit stupid, wasn't it?" He shrugs and shakes his head. "What I meant was that my reputation is maybe a bit exaggerated." He holds his forefinger and thumb about a centimeter apart, before pointing his finger at her nose. "But don't you dare tell anyone."

She stares cross-eyed at the finger and then grabs it in her fist. "Fine, but only if you don't ever tell anyone that I spent the night!"

He purses his lips and cocks his head to the side. "Not even F4?"

"Especially not F4," she says with a hard look. The last thing she needs is for his best friends to spread rumors about he throughout all of South Korea.

Woo Bin doesn't answer for a moment, mulling it over in his head. "Fine."

Jae Kyung nods in agreement and holds out her hand to shake on it. When he grabs it and gives it one firm shake, she feels satisfied that this matter will never leave the room. "So, now what?"

He thinks about it for a moment and then grins broadly. "Now, we get breakfast and then we'll go get you some new clothes. I can't let you walk around in my underwear out there. What will people think? Woo Bin can't even clothe his woman."

Her eyes go round as saucers at that comment. "I am not your woman! And if you ever say that again, I'll kill you." She pelts him with her bra one more time for good measure then turns on her heel and stalks back towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower! Have breakfast ready when I'm out." The door bangs shut behind her and she flicks the lock with a satisfying snap.

Woo Bin snickers and retorts in a low voice: "Your wish is my command, darling."

"I heard that!"

Jae Kyung can't believe she is subjected to this. Because her skirt was too torn to wear, she is now walking down the streets of Manhattan, wearing a pair of Woo Bin's black 'Nike' track pants and clunky guy sneakers with her gold sequined top. She looks like a gangster girl reject! The only things missing are giant gold hoop earrings and unbearable amounts of makeup on her face. "I'm going to die of embarrassment," she grumbles under her breath as he drags her along to the closest boutique.

"Oh, lighten up, will you?" He rolls his eyes at her dramatics and pulls her closer to his side as a group of tourists comes at them from the opposite direction. "I think you look cute. Like a street gangster, warrior princess." He chuckles. "Maybe I should get you a ring; you know the kind that goes across all four fingers."

She snorts. "You mean brass knuckles? Sure, go ahead, I'll be sure to try them out on you, first thing."

He stops and gives her a calculating look. "Never mind, then. It'd be a shame if something happened to this handsome face." He strokes his chin and waggles his brows at her.

"Oh, shut up!" She swats his shoulder and stomps past him, intent on getting into the store and out of these terrible clothes.

The boutique is very upscale, what you would expect from a store located on 5th Avenue. She immediately feels the cold hard glare of the sales woman behind the counter as they enter.

"Can I help you?" The lady's tone suggests that she would love to continue the sentence with the words 'out the door'.

Jae Kyung does not like the tone and she opens her mouth to tell this woman just what she thinks of that attitude but suddenly she's staring at Woo Bin's broad back, so close that she can smell the leather of his biker jacket.

"Yes, actually, thank you. We need a few suits and shoes to match and…" He trails off as he looks around. Then he grabs the nearest large handbag from the display without even checking the price tag and puts it on the counter. "And this."

The lady sputters for a moment, looking like a fish as her mouth opens and closes. "Sir, I'm not sure you are aware, but our items are fairly exquisite. Are you certain you wouldn't feel more comfortable shopping else…"

Woo Bin cuts her off before she can finish the sentence. "I am positive." He pulls out his wallet and snaps a platinum American Express card onto the glass counter.

Jae Kyung is looking up at him from his side and feels her lips twitch as she sees the most brilliant, ice-cold smile on his face. It feels like the temperature in the room just dropped by a few degrees.

"Of course," the sales woman says in a shaky tone. "Follow me, please."

Jae Kyung snorts through her nose. Go Woo-Bin, making that bitch eat her words. She steps out from behind him and follows the sales lady towards the dressing rooms, checking out the various displays on the way. She sees a couple of blouses and skirts that she likes, especially one pin-stripe suit with a knee-length pencil skirt and a close fitted jacket with big gold buttons. "That one, definitely."

Woo Bin checks it out and nods approvingly. "What size? Tiny?"

She shakes her head and slaps her forehead. "Idiot, it's called petite."

"Which is nothing other than the French word for tiny, so there." He sticks his tongue out at her and grabs the ensemble from the hanger near the display. "Now, go."

The only reason that she obeys is because she really wants to get out of these clothes, otherwise, she would have told him where to shove that order in very colorful language. And he knows it, too, because he's grinning victoriously and Jae Kyung wants nothing more than to slap that smug smirk off his face.

She tries on the suit first and it's a perfect fit, accentuating her curves in all the right places. Technically, that is all she needs, but there is a platinum credit card sitting on the nearby counter that is just begging to be abused. So she tries on another suit, black with silver buttons and crisply pressed black slacks, and then a summer dress with bright floral pattern and off the shoulder sleeves. After that, she puts on a cashmere two piece set with jacket and sleeveless top and a long flowing skirt that is almost see through. To her annoyance, Woo Bin doesn't seem to suffer as much as she wants him to, instead giving her the thumbs up or thumbs down for each outfit when she steps out of the dressing room. When she starts to ogle the shoes on the far wall, he is right beside her. She picks up a pair of shiny, silver high heels, but they're almost instantly grabbed from her hand and put back on the shelf with a shake of his head. He grabs a simple black ballerina shoe instead and smacks it into her palm. She narrows her eyes and puts it back, going for another pair of high heels. Before she can even touch them, his hand slaps her wrist and he points out a row of other pairs that have lower heels instead. She purses her lips and blows out her cheeks as she glares at him angrily. His brows draw together and he picks up the ballerinas again, wagging them threateningly. Jae Kyung huffs out a breath and grabs the ballerinas and a couple other pairs with low heels and stomps off back to the dressing room. "You suck," she mutters under her breath.

Two hours later, the card is finally swiped through the reader and the sales-lady has a happy smile on their face as she charges them a whooping twelve thousand dollars for the lot. Neither Jae Kyung nor Woo Bin even blink at the price. It isn't even all her doing, because he decided to get a suit for himself as well. This time their outfits match at least. She's wearing the grey pinstripe suit that she picked out first and he is wearing a darker gray suit with a purple silk tie that compliments her lavender blouse.

He checks his watch as he places the credit card back in his wallet. "Shit!"

"What?" She's taken aback by the sudden cursing, especially since neither of them had said very much during the whole time in the shop.

"Well, I'm going to be late if I don't haul out of here, right now. And Pai Quan She does not take kindly to that." He looks up at the sales lady. "Deliver these to the Waldorf-Astoria." He points at the mountain of shopping bags they've accumulated. "The Royal Suite." Woo Bin is already turning on his heel before the sales woman responds with a crisp: "Of course, sir."

"Come on." Jae Kyung stumbles over her own feet as he grabs her hand and all put pulls her out of the store. "We have to make it there on time."

"But, why me? I don't have to go. Woo Bin! Slow down! Let go!" She's trying to protest but he's already herded her into a taxi cab and is shouting out the destination.

She leans back and crosses her arms over her chest, pouting. "Who says I want to go with you?" She glares at him from under her lashes. "Where are we going anyway?"

"We're going to meet a…potential business partner."

The pause between words makes her look at him directly. That sounded shady. She knows, of course, what type of family Woo Bin comes from, but she didn't know that he feels so uncomfortable about it. Prince Song of the Song clan, whose family controls the underbelly of South Korea and large parts of China feels shame over who he is. Who would have thought it?

"Hey." She kicks his ankle, but does it gently. "You can tell me the truth." Her arms are still crossed defiantly. "It's not like my father's dealings are all strictly above the table." She juts her chin out. "I'm not scared of who you are."

"It's nothing to be proud of," he says sharply.

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of, when it's not your fault, either. You can't help what family you're born into." And that is the end of that subject where she is concerned.

When he doesn't respond for a while she looks over at him again. He has the most dumbstruck expression on his face and she can't help but laugh a little. "With a look like that on your face, he's going to pull a fast one on you like that." She snaps her fingers. "It's a good thing I'm going with you." She leans over and grabs his tie, straightening the knot and smoothing down the collar.

The fact that they are meeting this potential business partner at an upscale Chinese restaurant is so cliché, Jae Kyung has to duck her head upon entering to hide the smile on her face. The hostess leads them to a table in the far back of the restaurant and she doesn't get a good look at the other man until they are right in front of him, Jae Kyung safely tucked behind Woo Bin's shoulder.

"Mr. Pai, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Woo Bin addresses the other man in flawless Cantonese.

"Mr. Song, the pleasure is all mine." Pai Quan She gets up, and Jae Kyung can see where he gets his first name. His movements awfully resemble those of a coiled snake, hypnotizing to the eye if you don't know that it's ready to strike.

The men shake hands and she holds her hands perfectly still in front of her to keep from reaching out as well. One wrong move will get you bitten by any snake.

They sit down on opposite ends of the table, never leaving their eyes of each other for a moment. Pai Quan She looks a few years older than them, maybe in his early thirties. She wonders if he and Woo Bin are both here on their parents' request.

"And who might this be?" Mr. Pai turns his eyes on her and she feels like she is caught between fight and flight. Jae Kyung straightens her back, ready to be the mongoose to the snake. She opens her mouth, but before she can say anything Woo Bin beats her to the punch.

"This is my fiancée, Jade. I hope you will accept her accompanying us today." His hand covers hers on top of the armrest and she feels his fingers squeeze hers gently.

Jae Kyung barely manages to keep her poker-face in tact but she squeezes back a lot harder as she bows her head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," she says in a demure tone.

"Fiancée?" Mr. Pai sounds equal parts surprised and disbelieving. "Your father didn't mention anything about it. And she's not wearing a ring."

Jae Kyung bites her lip. The cobra has struck.

"We have not made any official announcements for various reasons. I hope you understand," Woo Bin answers without missing a beat. And the mongoose has danced out of the way without effort.

Jae Kyung smiles benignly. She is confident that they can pull this off.

For the remainder of the conversation, she stays quiet and listens attentively. Whenever she feels like the cobra is trying to strike again, she squeezes Woo Bin's fingers in warning, but each time, he returns a gentler, reassuring squeeze and navigates the pitfalls of negotiating against someone like Mr. Pai with an easy grace. He might not like it, but he is definitely a natural at being the Prince of the Underworld. Once they come to an agreement, Pai Shipping will exclusively handle the import and export of the Song family's primary goods from Hong Kong to New York. In turn the Song family will offer protection of the Pai family's vested interest in establishing a luxury cruise travel business in the Pacific seas. Jae Kyung knows exactly what that means, but she finds she is not concerned by it.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you." Mr. Pai stands up and Jae Kyung lets Woo Bin help her to her feet as they stand in turn. "And let me extend my congratulations on your beautiful fiancée. She is a gem that brings honor to her name." The men shake hands and Jae Kyung bows respectfully before they leave.

Once they're out of the restaurant, they both exhale a huge sigh of relief at the same time.

"That was intense," she says before straightening up and swatting his arm, hard. "Your fiancée, really?" She hits him again. "You're lucky you didn't use my real name or I'd have to kill you right here."

"I'm sorry, it was the only thing I could think of to keep you safe. You showed up unannounced, and if I hadn't had a good reason, you'd be sliced up and on the dinner menu by now." He rubs his arm where she hit him and shoots her an annoyed glare. "A lot of women would be happy to be called my fiancée, you know?"

"Pah. A lot of women would be happy to be anyone's fiancée, but that doesn't mean I have to join their ranks, now, does it?" She starts walking off, ready to leave this restaurant far behind and get back to normal life. This was not the kind of date she likes to go on. She catches herself on that thought. This was not a kind of date at all. He just took her with him because he would have been late otherwise. And she doesn't even want to be on any more dates with him. She's just being polite and making him suffer for being an annoying carp, that's all.

"Hey, where are you running off to?" He catches up with her and falls easily in step beside her.

"I'm going to go home. I think this was more than enough to fulfill my obligations as entertainment guide through New York City."

"Oh, come on," he says in terribly mangled English. "Aren't you having fun? And your clothes are still at my suite."

Jae Kyung snorts. "You can just send them to me. I'll text you my address." She pulls out her cell phone and starts typing a text with her address near Central Park.

He grumbles under his breath, not ready to give up yet. "What are you going to do all day if you're not entertaining me? Aren't you bored hanging out all alone?"

"Who says I'm all alone?" She stops typing and looks up at him sharply. "I have friends. Lots of friends." Of course, most of them have their own busy lives, so she can't always hang out with them. Most of her friends from college have to hold down a job to afford the tuition and other expenses that Jae Kyung doesn't even have to think about.

"So, invite them, too. We can all go somewhere together, have a party!"

Thankfully, his phone starts ringing at that moment, ending the conversation. As she goes back to typing her address, she keeps her ears peeled into the conversation out of curiosity.

"Yes, that's right. Yeah, that's fine." He's speaking Mandarin again and Jae Kyung pays more attention to what he's saying. "My fiancée? Uhm…uh…" That is not like him at all. He is floundering and without even thinking about it, she calls out in the most sickeningly sweet tone: "Honey. Hey, honey!"

"One moment, please." He covers the mouth piece of the phone and shoots her a look filled with equal parts gratitude and trepidation.

"What's wrong?" she says in her normal tone.

"They want to meet up for a formal reception tonight at the Metropolitan Museum."

"So?" For some reason, she can't quite figure out what that has to do with his imaginary fiancée. "And?"

"They not so much asked, as told me to bring along my fiancée, so I can introduce her to the head of the family."

"Oh, crap." Her eyes go wide and she's already shaking her head, because there is no way that she will agree to this.

"Please?" She is amazed how that one word clearly projects a mental image of Woo Bin begging on his knees with his hands folded together above his head.

Jae Kyung exhales with a growl. "Fine!" She grits the word out between her teeth.

"But that'll be the last time, or I'll have to break up with you in public and spill something over your head."

"Thank you!" He grabs her in a one-armed hug and she can't squirm out of it quickly enough to avoid the big wet kiss on her cheek.

"Hey!" She smacks him in the shoulder and keeps smacking him as he goes back to his conversation as if nothing happened.

"Yes, we'll be there. Seven o'clock will be fine. Yes, thank you. Have a good day."

He snaps the phone shut and puts it back in his pocket with a sigh of relief. "So, what do we do with the next three hours?"

"Three hours?" She can't believe how casual he is about all this. She checks her watch. "We don't even have three hours." She smacks him again. "It's already 3:30 and depending on how long it takes to get through traffic to the Met, that only leaves me three hours to get my hair and make-up done, find the right dress, put it on, pray that you have something in your closet to coordinate our outfits and make sure we both look our best before going to a friggin formal reception!" Her arms are flailing wildly as she turns around to start flagging down a taxi cab. "I can't believe you're doing this to me! Do you even know how to dance?"

"Of course I do!" he responds with a roguish smile and starts sashaying, showing of a few quick moves that would have other girls melting at his feet.

Jae Kyung smacks her forehead and utters another growl of frustration. "Great, we're doomed."

Woo Bin laughs and pats her lightly on the shoulder. "Cheer up, princess. I'll take you out for drinks, after."

The Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its balcony above are already filled with people by the time they arrive at seven o'clock. There are tables set up around the great arches and the large marble reception desk that usually welcomes visitors to the museum is functioning as the main bar. A chamber orchestra is seated at the back of the hall, playing soft classical music to accompany the din of the crowd. It is your typical high society reception.

"You owe me for this," Jae Kyung says as she digs her nails into the crook of his arm, holding her clutch purse tightly to her chest with her other hand. "You should know I hate this kind of shindig." The smile on her face stays serene as she spews venom with her words.

"No more than I do," he says with an equally fake smile on his face. "We'll only stay a couple of hours to be polite. I promise."

"You still owe me. Big time!"

"I'll go shopping with you again. Anywhere you want."

Her smile turns real for a moment as she looks up with an excited gleam in her eyes. "Anywhere I want?" she asks sweetly as Woo Bin gulps visibly. Her smile grows even wider. "It's a deal," she says.

He closes his eyes in defeat. "You'll be the death of me."

"You bet." She is feeling a lot better about the whole situation already.

Her smile freezes up when they bump into Mr. Pai. Next to him is an older man, who looks to be in his mid-fifties. From the way that the old man is carrying himself, it is pretty obvious that he is the big boss and, in comparison, Mr. Pai is a small fry.

"Father, this is Song Woo Bin, and his fiancée, Jade. Mr. Song, this is my father, Pai Chok Tong," Mr. Pai says before either of them can speak.

Both Woo Bin and Jae Kyung bow formally in greeting.

"Ah, Song Woo Bin. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." The old man says and extends a small bow in return. "My son has told me about your lovely fiancée. I am glad you were able to bring her."

"The pleasure is all mine, sir." Woo Bin bows again and Jae Kyung mirrors him.

"I hope you enjoy the evening, and I will speak to you later," Mr. Pai senior says and turns away from them, heading to a cluster of older men not too far off.

"Our table is right over there," Pai Quan She motions a hand towards the table he is referring to and nods curtly. "My father insists that these events are not meant to talk business, only politics and economy. Please keep that in mind." Then he walks off without waiting for a response.

"What a jerk," Jae Kyung mutters under her breath when Mr. Pai is a safe distance away from them.

"Business as usual, princess. That's the kind of men that run in our circles," Woo Bin says with a casual shrug.

"Well, you're not like that," she says without thinking. "It's like someone shoved a broomstick up his butt and never got around to removing it."

Woo Bin chuckles and pats her hand on his arm. "Let's go get drinks first, alright?"

She nods and starts heading for the bar immediately. "Yeah, I feel like I really need one, now."

The bar is not too busy at the moment and they manage to snag two barstools at the corner. Since Woo Bin is going for straight up Whiskey, Jae Kyung opts for the same drink. She uses the opportunity to glance around the Great Hall and check out the other guests. She doesn't recognize anyone that would be acquainted with her family. That would have been tough to explain to her parents. Jae Kyung is pretty sure that her mother would not approve of this kind of social circle. Her dad is a push over when it comes to her, so she is not worried about him at all.

The orchestra strikes up for a new piece and she recognizes it as a fast paced waltz.

"Would you like to dance?" Woo Bin's casual question almost makes her choke on her drink.

"What?" She shakes her head. "I'm not going to get embarrassed in front of this crowd. This is not the kind of dance where you can wing it."

He rolls his eyes and grabs her hand, ignoring her protests as he drags her towards the center of the dance floor. "Stop whining, I know what I'm doing."

Keeping a firm hold of her one hand, he guides her other one, which is still holding the clutch, at his shoulder blade and then pulls her into position. She wishes she had worn the high necked traditional dress instead of the sleeveless cocktail dress she chose on a whim. His cool hand on the bare skin between her shoulder blades makes her shiver.

She glares at him mulishly and growls under her breath. Woo Bin just smiles and starts leading her into the first few steps, in perfect pace with the ¾ time of the waltz.

Her eyes go wide and her mouth opens in surprise. "But, how?"

He chuckles and cocks his head to the side. "I told you I know what I'm doing." He pulls her a little closer, without loosing the beat. "And I always get what I want."

He's amazing at this. She knows she's not that good of a dancer, but the way he is leading her, she feels like she doesn't even have the option to misstep. If he'd been around when she had tried to learn the waltz for her ill-fated wedding with Jun Pyo, she would have had a much easier time. She shakes her head to banish the thought and presses her lips together tightly. "You suck." She strikes him in the back with her clutch, but he doesn't even wince.

"So you keep telling me." He grins at her and leads her into a few fast paced left turns, making her feel like she's flying across the dance floor.

Having successfully escaped from the reception after a couple of hours, just like Woo Bin promised, they are now ending the evening at a small bar on 2nd Avenue. Jae Kyung has her feet curled under her, her shoes discarded on the floor under the table. They're on their second bottle of red wine after a couple of strong shots. She's surprisingly comfortable with the situation. It's just a shame this bar doesn't have karaoke. There is a lull in conversation, so she finally decides to bite the bullet. They've spent the better part of two days together and she has yet to ask. "So, how are they doing?"

"Huh?" He looks up at her and for a second she thinks he's going to be dumb and ask who, but then he smiles and shrugs amiably. "They're fine, I guess. Everybody has been off in their own worlds for a while now." The famous F4 hadn't been as inseparable as they used to be for about three years now. "After you left there was a bit of a ruckus. First Jun Pyo's mother was causing a stink, and Jan Di ran off to some fisher town. And then when Ji Hoo finally brought her back, Jun Pyo got run over by a car and lost his memory of her."

When he sees her rear back in shock, he quickly waves his hand and continues. "No, no. They're fine. It all got sorted out in the end."

"Oh." She's glad to hear it. Jan Di is like a little sister to her, and she would be heartbroken if it didn't work out between her and Jun Pyo. After all, Jan Di was the only reason that Jae Kyung gave up on trying to win him over. "So they're still together?" She sips at her wine and looks at him expectantly.

"Hm. But it's complicated. Jun Pyo still has to take the leadership of Shinhwa Group, so he's traveling all over, mostly Europe now. I don't think they've even seen each other in over a year."

She clucks her tongue in disapproval. "That's not right. He should take care of her."

Woo bin shrugs. "Eh, she all but told him to buzz off and take care of his business."

Jae Kyung laughs and takes another sip of wine. "That sounds like my little sis."

He nods. "Yeah, but Jun Pyo didn't just buzz off. He makes sure she remembers that she's his woman." He snickers and downs the rest of his glass. "One time, he took out a full page ad in the Sunday newspaper. Something about 'the grass of true love grows greenest in South Korea'. It was a good thing he was on the other side of the world at the time. She would have killed him if she got her hands on him." He holds both hands in front of him and makes a strangling motion.

She snickers and waves her hand dismissively. "It would have served him right, embarrassing her like that."

He shakes his head. "Nah, I think secretly, she really liked it. It let her know that he's thinking about her, not like when he went to Macao. I was tempted to punch his lights out for hurting her like that."

Jae Kyung waits for the sharp sting of regret that used to inevitably come with every reminder of that time. She is surprised when all she feels is a mild melancholy instead. She blinks quickly and downs the rest of her glass, then refills it almost to the top. "So, what about the others?"

"Yi Jeong went to Sweden. He's studying pottery and avoiding the inevitable." Woo Bin says with a chuckle.

"Huh?" She's not sure what he's talking about.

"Ga Eul," he says, as if that explains everything. When he realizes that she has still not quite caught on, he explains. "Our Casanova fell head over heels for Jan Di's best friend. Of course, he can't admit it, so he ran off to the other side of the world to avoid it. But he'll be back eventually."

Ga Eul and Yi Jeong were in love with each other? Who would have thought it? "When did that happen?"

Woo Bin shrugs one shoulder as he refills his wine glass. "Not sure. I guess, sometime while they were pretending to date, things became real. He's just not ready to admit it, yet." He grins. "I bet you 10 million won, they'll get married before Jan Di and Jun Pyo."

She snorts. "Do I look stupid? He's your best friend, I'm not betting against you on that."

"Shame," he says with a pout. "I could've used the money to make up for your shopping spree."

"Penny pincher." She cuffs him in the shoulder. "You haven't seen the worst yet. Remember, you promised me another shopping trip, wherever I want." She thinks Paris might be a good idea, or maybe Milan, or perhaps Rome or Geneva.

He shudders exaggeratedly. "Boy, what did I get myself into? I can see the dollar signs in your eyes." He brings up a hand and covers her eyes and she grabs it and holds it in her lap as she leans closer.

"Be afraid. Be very afraid." She wiggles her eyebrows and grins wolfishly.

"I am. Can't you feel me shaking?" He sounds so serious for a moment that her hand twitches in surprise. But then he grins again and she shakes off the weird feeling in her stomach. "Stupid carp. You just wait, I'll have you quaking in your crocodile boots."

He laughs out loud and pulls his hand away to pick up his glass again. She's surprised how cold her fingers feel from the loss of touch and quickly grabs her own glass. "So, what about Ji Hoo?" She changes the subject, hoping it will cover up the awkward moment.

"Ah, he's in med school now. He followed Jan Di there when she decided to become a doctor." Woo Bin frowns a little and Jae Kyung knows exactly what he's thinking.

"It's a little sad, isn't it?" she asks as she turns her glass, twisting the stem with the tips of her fingers, "him following her like that." Her brows knit together as she looks into the gently swaying red liquid inside the bowl. "Do you think he'll ever stop?" She glances up at him from under her lashes.

His chin tilts lightly as he contemplates her question, the angle casting half of his handsome face in dark shadows. "I don't know. He's not the type to let go easily. He only gave up on his first love, Min Seo Hyun, because of Jan Di."

"Ah, pft." She grumbles under her breath. "I really hope he finds someone to break him off Jan Di, then, for his own good."

"Hm." He shrugs again and picks up his glass, downing a large swig and shaking his head. "Now, see what you did? Making us all doom and gloomy. Enough of that." He puts his glass down decisively. "Wanna go back to my place and do some karaoke? I still have to pay you back for winning in Soul Calibur, too."

Jae Kyung opens her mouth to protest. She really should go home, but then her mouth surprises her by saying: "Sure, let's go."

Woo Bin sits down on the couch next to her and she turns around on a whim, plopping her legs in his lap. "Ah, I'm done using my feet for at least a week." She wiggles her toes and looks at the new band-aids she put on after they got back from the bar. "Look at them, they're ruined. Poor feet."

He stares at his lap for a second before shifting her feet further towards his knees and sitting up straighter. "Well, whose fault is that?" he asks her challengingly. "If you'd worn sensible shoes on our first date, you wouldn't have to suffer for it now, would you?"

"And if you had given up and showed some suffering on our date, I wouldn't have had to walk so much, now would I?" After blowing a raspberry in his general direction, she continues, "So, it's clearly your fault." She smacks her ankle lightly against his stomach.

Woo Bin catches the offending foot and glares at her. "If you weren't trying so hard to make me suffer for no reason, you wouldn't have had to walk at all."

"What?" She sits up straight. "If you hadn't been such a lousy distraction when you were trying to keep me away from Jun Pyo, I wouldn't have had to make you suffer!"

"What?" He leans over to get in her face. "And if you hadn't been trying to get between Jun Pyo and Jan Di, I wouldn't have had to be a lousy distraction!"

"Well if you hadn't…" She falters and starts again. "If you hadn't…" She can't think of anything to shoot back at him but that doesn't stop her from replying anyway. "Argh! You suck and it's still all your fault." She crosses her arms defiantly.

After blinking twice at that, he bursts out into laughter, falling back against the couch. "Ah, I win again."

"What? Says who?" She struggles to get her feet out of his lap, but he's holding on to them and just turns his head to the side to look at her.

"You do. Because every time I win, all you can tell me is that I suck."

She opens her mouth, ready to prove him wrong, but then all the times she told him flash through her mind and she bites her lip. "You really, really suck. Stupid carp."

"Yepp, I totally win." He lifts his hand, his fingers forming the victory sign as she sticks her tongue out at him. "But I'm a magnanimous victor, so I'll be nice," he says as he shifts his grip and starts massaging the arch of her left foot.

At first she wants to pull away, but it feels really good, so she just lowers her lids and glares at him mulishly. In a way, he's serving her, so that means she wins and for that reason she will let him get away with this. "A little lower, servant," she says haughtily.

His thumb digs into the ball of her foot and she hears a knuckle pop. If he thinks that hurt, he really doesn't know what he's doing. This feels really good. "Yeah, just like that." Her eyes fall closed as he keeps going and she can feel herself slowly turn into relaxed goo.

She's almost drifted off to sleep when she feels him shift her around and pull her to her feet. "Hey, I was comfy." Her protests are feeble at best, because she lets him steer her away from the couch and towards the bedroom.

"You're not sleeping on the couch, you'll just be all grouchy in the morning," he grumbles quietly as he gently keeps pushing her forward.

"Hm, kay." She's going on auto-pilot and ready to fall into bed face first, but an arm around her shoulders is stopping her. "What?" she whines sleepily.

"Don't you want to change first?" he asks with a soft chuckle.

"Huh? Oh." She's still wearing the cocktail dress from the reception. He's right, she can't sleep in that. "But I've got nothing to wear." Somewhere in her mind, she knows she should be more alert. She should probably go home, where her pajamas are. But she's warm and comfortable and so tired and Woo Bin is being so nice to her. Also, home is really far away right now.

"Hold on." He lets go of her shoulders and, once he's gone, the temptation is too much and she lets herself collapse on the big, soft mattress with a happy sigh.

A tingle of alarm wakes her up when she feels her zipper pulled down, exposing her naked back. "Hey!"

"Don't get up," he says as a t-shirt and boxers land next to her face on the bed. "Get changed, I'll be right back."

Her brows furrow and she glances around furtively to make sure he's gone before she sluggishly gets up and puts on the t-shirt over her dress. It takes her forever to get out of the dress and wiggle into the boxer shorts but she finally manages and crawls back onto the mattress. "Victory," she mumbles tiredly and cuddles the pillow close to her face, already falling back asleep.

The sunlight wakes her up with a mild headache the next morning. An immediate sense of déjà vu slaps her in the face and she jumps upright in bed. "Oh, no. Not again!" Her eyes go wide in alarm, but then she notices she's alone in the bed. She also remembers last night clearly. They came back here from the bar, and then Woo Bin started a fight but he ended up massaging her feet. She remembers being so tired that she couldn't keep her eyes open. She knows for a fact that he left the room before she changed out of her clothes. A big sigh of relief bursts from her mouth and she falls back on the mattress. He must have slept on the couch this time because the pillow next to hers is cold when she touches it. Biting her lip and nodding determinedly, she ambles out of the bed and into the bathroom to freshen up. She's surprised when she finds the pair of track pants she borrowed yesterday folded neatly on top of the toilet seat.

When she's finished in the bathroom, she slowly makes her way to the large living and dining area. Woo Bin is nowhere to be seen until she notices that the doors to the balcony are open. She finds him sitting behind a large, wrought iron café table, reading the newspaper. Every square inch of the table is filled with breakfast food and dishes.

Jae Kyung plops down in the chair opposite him and immediately goes for the large china pot of coffee. "Morning."

The newspaper crinkles as he folds it in half to look over it. "Good morning, princess. Sleep well?" After asking the question, his face disappears back behind the paper.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I thought so. You were snoring so loudly, it sounded like you were clearing out the rainforest."

"What? I did not!" She sets the pot down with a loud clank and leans over the table to grab the newspaper so she can glare in his face.

"Hey!" He pulls the newspaper out of her reach and leaves her stranded in an awkward position, bent over the table. "If you want to read it, all you have to do is ask." He snickers as he pulls out a part of the paper from the middle and holds it just out of her reach. "Be nice, and I'll let you have the society pages."

She straightens up and sticks her tongue out at him. "Who says I care about those?" She puts her fists on her hips and taps her foot.

"So you don't want to know who Justin Timberlake is dating this week?" he asks teasingly.

"Oh, gimme that." She leans over again and successfully snatches the society pages from his grasp, ignoring the smile he's giving her. "And I do not snore." She flops back down into her chair and smoothes out the crumpled pages as he goes back to reading the business section.

They both go quiet for a while, immersed in the respective articles they're reading while enjoying the coffee and breakfast. An article about the Central Park Zoo catches her eye and Jae Kyung is the first to break the silence.

"Oh, a new panda baby," she exclaims with a squeal.

"Hm?" Woo Bin looks up from his newspaper again, raising his brows in question.

"The zoo in Central Park just had a new panda baby. Look he's so cute!" She turns around the pages to show him the picture of the little black and white panda bear chewing on a stalk of bamboo. "I want one!" She bounces in her chair.

Woo Bin snickers and shakes his head. "Do you want to go see it? I'm free today, so if you've got nothing better to do…" He trails off with a nonchalant look on his face.

"Yes!" she shouts before she realizes she's just agreed to go on another date with him. "I mean…" She growls under her breath. "Dammit." She hastily grabs her coffee cup and finishes the rest of it. "It's not a date. I'll just be your guide, because you're visiting and I live here, so don't get any wrong ideas!"

Even though he's hiding his face behind the newspaper again, she can hear him snickering. She purses her lips and blows up her cheeks in annoyance, glaring holes into the picture on the front page.

"Good," he says as he turns the pages of the paper. "We can get ready and go after breakfast, but you'll probably want to shower first."

"What? Are you saying I smell? You go take a shower first!" She flicks her hand at him in indignation.

Woo Bin lowers the newspaper and raises a brow at her. "I already took one this morning. Unlike someone who decided to sleep in until almost eleven, I got up at a reasonable time."

"What?" She leans over the table and grabs his wrist to check the time on the Rolex he's wearing. It is already half past eleven. Her eyes go wide. She didn't even realize she'd slept that long. "Ack! I never sleep that long!"

"Uh-huh, sure," he says slowly, clearly not believing a word she's saying.

"I don't!" she insists as she gets up from the table. "I'm going to go take a shower. I'll be ready in 10 minutes tops."

Woo Bin is rolling his eyes at her as they're finally stepping through the entrance of the zoo over an hour later, when it is only a fifteen minute walk away from his hotel. "Stop doing that. I usually don't take that long!"

"It took you twenty minutes just to decide on what to wear," he says reprovingly.

"That's because everything was in bags and I couldn't find it," she defends herself as they pass the café and walk towards the desert habitat. "If it was all in my closet I would have been ready in ten minutes."

He rolls his eyes again and grabs her hand to pull her over because she almost stomped over a small kid, not paying attention to where she's going. "Watch out!"

She collides with his shoulder and is ready to lay into him when she notices the young boy. "Sorry!" she calls after him in English as the boy runs off towards his parents.

"At least you're wearing sensible shoes," he comments as he guides her through the door into the desert habitat.

She looks down at the ballerinas she's wearing, the ones they bought yesterday at the boutique. "Yeah, they're pretty comfy."

"Come on, let's go." He gives her hand a quick squeeze and pulls her forward.

When she realizes he's still holding on to her hand, she quickly pulls it away to point at the nearest window. "Look there, wow. So cool."

They take their time looking at the animals, because Jae Kyung is fascinated with all the different types of snakes and lizards. She can tell that Woo Bin is not a big fan of the slimier looking snakes and she has fun calling him out on it. "Wuss."

Some of the smaller lizards are hard to spot inside their glass terrariums and they make a game out of who can find them first. As they move on to the Tropical Territory, a large conservatory, her shirt starts sticking to her immediately from the humidity. "Aren't you glad you're not wearing a suit?" He's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt for the casual occasion, his leather jacket slung over his shoulder now that they've entered the heated area. "It's not like I always wear a suit," he says defensively.

"Eh, you wear it well, but I like you better like this," she says without thinking and skips ahead up the wooden steps to catch a glimpse of one of the colorful birds flying overhead, zooming between the tropical trees.

As soon as they step out into the crisp spring air, Jae Kyung shivers from the sudden drop in temperature and rubs her arms. "This part always sucks."

He chuckles and swings his jacket around, draping it over her shoulders. "Who's the wuss now?"

She sticks her tongue out at him, but shoves her arms into the sleeves of the jacket anyway and pulls it closed around her. "Women freeze quicker than men, it's biological, so, I have a reason, unlike you, Mr. Big Guy who's afraid of a little snake."

"Oy, most of those things are poisonous and can kill you. It's a healthy respect."

She rolls her eyes. "Most of them are not poisonous, and have you ever seen a snake bite through safety glass?"

"Not the point," he says.

"So the point," she retorts.

They take their time in the Temperate Territory, looking at the different animals from all over the world. She is completely in love with the new panda baby and vows to one day have one just like it. When they reach the monkey habitat and Woo Bin opens his mouth to say something, Jae Kyung shoots him a glare that should have incinerated him on the spot. "Not one word!"

Even as he's laughing, he mimes locking up his mouth and throwing away the key, but his eyes sparkle with devious humor. They both know without saying that he has at least half a dozen comments ready to fly, referencing the mean nickname Jun Pyo gave her.

They make it all the way to the penguins without incident when Jae Kyung's cell phone rings in her pocket. She looks at the caller ID and frowns curiously. "Mom?" She pushes the green button and brings the phone up to her ear. "Hello, mom."

"Hello, mom? How can you be so casual? What were you thinking?" The angry screaming is so loud that Jae Kyung jerks the phone away from her ear in shock. "You ungrateful child, how can you do this to your mother? Do you have any idea what I've been going through all morning? How could you?"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Her brows furrow in confusion. She has no idea what she has done now to anger her mother like this.

She turns away from Woo Bin and walks a few paces. She doesn't want him to hear her mother's hysterical screaming.

"What could I possibly be talking about? Going out with that scoundrel! What were you thinking? Don't you know what kind of family he's from? Clearly, you weren't thinking at all to associate with such a low life…"

"MOM!" Her voice comes out louder than she meant and she quickly looks back at Woo Bin, but he is on his phone now, too, talking to somebody in low tones. She shakes her head and tunes back into her own conversation. "It's not like that," she says weakly.

"Not like what? It's not like anything! You shouldn't even be near the same circles he runs in. How in the world did you end up going to that reception? And after your father turned down the invitation just a week ago."

"What?" She blinks in surprise, but then catches herself quickly. "Well, I didn't know about that. And it's not like it was a date, I was just doing him a favor."

"You have no business doing favors for someone like that! Think of our reputation! Think of JK Group! I want you to come over, this instant. Where are you?"

Jae Kyung bites her lip. There is no way she will tell her mother that she's with the very person that she's not supposed to be associating with. "I'm at the Zoo. I can be there in…" She trails off to check the time on the display. "Forty minutes?"

"Be here in thirty. This will have consequences, young lady." Her mother hangs up the phone without another word.

Jae Kyung flinches and puts the phone back in her pocket with an irritated sigh. Her mother really is the worst sometimes. She will need daddy's help if she's going to get out of this one unscathed. She reaches Woo Bin just as he's hanging up the phone and he looks like he got a dressing down, too. This is awkward.

"Uhm, I kinda have to go," she says slowly, motioning towards the exit.

"Yeah, me too," he replies with a frown on his face.

They walk to the exit together, neither of them saying anything. She's the first to break the silence as they stand opposite each other, back on 5th Avenue outside the zoo.

"Well, goodbye." She waves her hand a little and starts walking backwards for a few steps before she turns away from him.

"Hey, Jae Kyung, wait!" he calls out after her when she's already put some distance between them.

"What?"

He looks at her for a few seconds and then shakes his head with a laugh. "Never mind, I'll catch you later!"

"Good luck, trying." She grins and waves at him again, then turns around and starts jogging down the sidewalk. She'll have to hurry to get to the office within the timeframe her mother expects of her.

The leather jacket lands on the back of her couch with a hard thump as she growls at it in annoyance. It didn't dawn on her why Woo Bin called after her, and what his comment meant, until she heard her mother's high pitched scream of outrage, when Jea Kyung showed up at the office, still wearing his leather jacket. What had followed was an ugly scene. Jae Kyung told her mother just what she thought of her hypocrisy when it came to people's reputations before she stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her. End of conversation. Now she is back in her own apartment and only the undying, unconditional love of her daddy is going to save her from her mother's wrath. But she'll deal with that tomorrow, because right now she's just hungry. Of course, when she looks in the fridge it is empty except for a ton of bottled water and some yogurt. She's not really good at grocery shopping, because she eats out most of the time. Right now, she doesn't feel like going out though. And she really doesn't feel like waiting for thirty minutes to get some food delivered. Life sucks. She slams the fridge door shut and is ready to scream in frustration when the doorbell rings. Her brows crinkle together as she looks towards the front door of her apartment. She doesn't remember any of her friends telling her they'd be coming over. The doorbell rings again, several times in quick succession, and she stomps over in a huff to answer the impatient person on the other side with just as much courtesy as they're showing her, which is to say none.

"WHAT?" she yells as she throws the door open before she realizes who is standing on the other side. "You?"

Woo Bin seems entirely unperturbed by her attitude and holds up a large pizza box and a six-pack of beer in the other hand. "I came to exchange clothes, and I thought you might want dinner?"

She grabs him by the lapel of his trench coat and roughly pulls him into the apartment. The only reason she's letting him in is to prevent any rumors, spread by nosy neighbors, and because the box in his hand smells like extra cheese. Snatching the pizza from his hand, she strides back into the living room, leaving him to deal with the door.

"How did you know my address, anyway?" she asks as she plops down on the couch and looks at him suspiciously.

"You texted it to me, remember?" He sets the beer down on the coffee table next to the pizza box and sits down on the couch next to her without an invitation.

"Oh, that's right." She'd sent him her address so he could have her clothes delivered. "But, I don't see any clothes."

He laughs. "Do you think I would lug all this stuff up here by myself? It was difficult enough getting it all into the trunk of my car. I left the concierge downstairs to deal with it. They'll bring it up in a few minutes." He flips the lid open and the scent of sizzling meat and cheese wafts up from the extra large pie.

"Hmm." She inhales deeply, distracted by the delicious aroma until she catches him start to take out the first slice. "Hey, go get some paper towels first! I don't want you dripping on my couch!"

Woo Bin blinks at her, but his hand moves away from the box. "What kind of a hostess are you? How would I know where you keep your paper towels?"

"Sheesh, you really are a spoiled brat. They're in the kitchen of course. Go get 'em. If you're making yourself at home like this, it's the least you can do."

He rolls his eyes but gets up anyway and follows the direction of her pointed finger to the kitchen.

"You know, that stupid jacket of yours got me into heaps of trouble! You should have said something when we were still at the zoo," she shouts after him.

"Eh," he says with a shrug as he returns with the paper towels. "I figured my warrior princess could deal with it. And I was right, wasn't I?"

"Hey, I'm not your anything!" She shoots him a glare as she snatches the roll from his hand and plunks it down on the coffee table.

"But I was still right, wasn't I?" he teases with a wink. "You didn't let your mother get the best of you?"

For some reason he looks almost hopeful as he asks the question and Jae Kyung can't figure out why her fight with her mother would matter to him.

"What do you think?" Her tone makes it clear that the question is rhetorical.

His face lights up with a grin and he hands her a large slice of pizza. "That's my girl."

She rears her fist up, threatening to punch his lights out and he ducks and pulls away a little, but doesn't look regretful at all, snickering instead. Jae Kyung takes the slice of pizza from his hand and bites into it aggressively.

He grabs his own slice and makes sure to use a paper towel when she watches him with keen eyes. "Happy now?"

"Mmpf." She's too busy chewing on a big bite to answer. This is just what she needs to calm her growling stomach.

The doorbell rings again and Jae Kyung gets up to answer it. The concierge on the other side is weighted down with two large shopping bags slung over each arm and a luggage trolley behind him that is filled to the brim with the rest of her purchases from the other day. "Come in, bedroom's that way." She walks ahead to show the guy where to put all her stuff.

When she comes back into the living room, after sending off the concierge with a healthy tip, she notices that Woo Bin is snooping through her DVD collection. "Hey, what are you doing?"

He pretty much ignores her temper and pulls out one of the DVDs from the large shelf. "Man, you sure love the classics. I haven't seen this one in ages." As he holds up the case, she can see that it's the first part of the Godfather trilogy.

She shrugs. "Actually, I've never seen it."

"What?" He looks sincerely stunned.

"Yeah, that's what my friend Chris said, and then he gave me all three parts for a birthday gift. I just never got around to watching it." She shrugs dismissively. Gangster movies aren't really her style. She likes horror movies.

"Well, that just won't do," he says decisively and walks over to her TV set to pop the DVD in the player. "You can't just live your life with that kind of glaring gap in pop-culture education."

"And who says I wanna watch it now?" she says as she flops back into the couch and frees one of the cans from the six-pack. "Or that I want to watch it with you."

Woo Bin turns around to look at her challengingly. "Because I'm the only company you've got, and you've got nothing better to do anyway."

She gasps in outrage and is ready to lay into him, but he cuts her off. "And I brought you beer and pizza, so showing me a little gratitude is the least you can do."

Her mouth snaps shut and she glares at him. "You…"

"Suck, I know," he finishes her sentence for her with a grin as he settles down in the couch beside her and grabs a can of beer for him. "Don't worry, you'll like this one. I promise."

The movie is long, really long and very detailed in following the story of a mafia family in America. It's been almost two hours and she's watching it more attentively than she thought she would. It's a completely different world from the reality she knows, but it seems very real. She's especially impressed with the character of Michael Corleone, who seems to get sucked into the sordid doings of his Mafia family against his will but then escapes to Sicily. She smiles happily when he gets married to a local girl. It's a relief when they finally cut back to the happy couple after watching one of the Corleone brother's get shot in cold blood in an ambush.

"Her English is just as bad as yours," she says when Apollonia, the Sicilian girl that Michael married, recites the days of the week all out of order.

"Mhm," is all that Woo Bin says, looking surprisingly grim for such a happy scene.

Jae Kyung shrugs it off and turns her attention back to the movie, reading the subtitles more than paying attention to the two men on the screen as Michael talks to his father in- law. As she expects, Michael prepares to return to America after hearing how his brother died. She's confused when the help that prepared the car acts weird. And then Michael screams and the car explodes with Apollonia in it.

"Oh my god!" She screams and grabs on to Woo Bin's arm in shocked surprise. "They killed her!"

"Yeah, they did," he says in a bleak monotone, staring straight ahead at the TV screen.

She pulls her hand back and curls into a ball on the couch, grabbing another beer. It's the last one. The following scenes are kind of a blur as she tries to catch up with the fact that they just killed Michael's true love in such a cruel way. She's even more shocked when Michael Corleone hooks up with his old girlfriend Kay again after only a year and even marries her. It's sad to see how much the character changed because of what happened to Apollonia. As the movie progresses she watches Michael start to take apart the family piece by piece in his new position as 'Godfather'. She keeps shaking her head at the sad story. She cries a little at the funeral scene for the old godfather and the last scene of the movie will probably haunt her for a while. The image of a cold, uncaring Michael sending off his hysterically crying sister and then lying to Kay's face about killing his sister's husband is devastating. 'Don't ask me about my business,' he says and then lies to her face when she asks him if it's true that he killed his brother in-law. Even worse, when Kay leaves the room, and looks back at him from outside the office, you can see that she doesn't really believe him. The movie ends with two men kissing his knuckles in reverence and calling him 'Don Corleone' as a third one closes the door in her face.

Jae Kyung is floored. "Wow," is all she can say.

Woo Bin is looking over at her from under his lashes and smiles a crooked smile. "I told you you'd like it." His mood is off for some reason, but it's probably the movie. It left her with a lot of confused feelings, too.

"Hrm, I really did. I just feel sad for Michael." She swishes the last dregs of beer around in her can.

"Yeah, he's really got the short end of the stick, having to fill his father's shoes as the Mafia-king," Woo Bin says wistfully.

"Not for that!" She places the can on the coffee table and turns sideways on the couch to face him. "That's all his doing. It's not like anyone forced him to be just like his father, or to lie to his wife or anything like that." She does not have a great deal of sympathy for how the character chose to move on after tragically losing his true love. "I feel sad for him because he lost Apollonia. She was his chance to really turn things around, and they could've had a happy ending." She sighs. "But then once she died, he just made all the wrong choices."

Woo Bin snorts sarcastically. "You really think he had a choice?"

Jae Kyung ignores the sarcasm and nods vehemently. "Absolutely. Everybody's got a choice. You just have to make it and stick with it." She slaps her fist into the palm of her hand to emphasize the point.

He chuckles and puts down his beer. "Well, I don't know." He pauses for a long moment, staring at his hands in his lap.

She exhales loudly and checks the clock on the DVD player. It's almost ten o' clock, but she's not really tired. She should really send him on his way, though. She hadn't even showered yet. She opens her mouth, but he cuts her off before she can say anything.

"Hey, since you liked this one so much, do you want to watch the second one?"

She pulls a face and looks at the clock again. "I don't know. It's already kinda late."

"Oh, come on. You're not tired yet, are you?" He cuffs her good naturedly in the shoulder. "After sleeping in so late, I'm surprised you don't want to go out and party."

She rolls her eyes and huffs out an exasperated sigh. She really should tell him to just go home and leave her alone. But he's right, and she hates that he can tell so easily, she's not even a little tired yet. "Fine, but after that you're out of here."

"Sure, sure." He's already out of his seat and heading for her DVD shelf. "Do you have any popcorn?" he asks over his shoulder.

"No," she says slowly. "Wait, maybe." She gets up and goes to the kitchen while he takes care of the movie. There is a box with microwave popcorn, hiding in the back of one of the cabinets. It's not too old, so she throws it in and pushes the popcorn button.

When she comes back with the popcorn, he already has the movie ready for them. She makes a quick return trip to the kitchen for a couple bottles of water. "So, what's this one about? Does it pick up where the last one left off?"

"You'll see," he says vaguely.

The movie starts with a 9 year old Vito Corleone, going to his father's funeral. His father was killed by the local mafia boss Don Ciccio, who shoots both Vito's older brother and their mother on the same day. Before she knows it, she's engrossed in the story. She had wondered how the whole 'Corleone family' started. The story of Vito is interwoven with the story of Michael, 7 years after his father passed away, making it even more interesting by watching the rise and fall of the family at the same time. She's absentmindedly grabbing for the bowl between them, shoving popcorn in her face. When her fingers bump into his, she smacks them impatiently so she can get at the delicious salty kernels. She spares him a triumphant glance when he pulls his hand back quickly and lets her have her way. "I win," she whispers under her breath before she goes back to watching the movie.

Somewhere around the time that Michael is leaving Havana amidst a public riot her eyelids start to grow heavy and she blinks slowly to keep herself awake. The last thing she consciously sees is the word 'Intermission' in big white letters on a black screen before her lids droop for the last time and she's fast asleep, one hand still in the popcorn bowl.

The smell of bacon and eggs wakes her up the next morning. She slept like a stone. Her brows crinkle in confusion as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes. Somehow, she slept in her bed, even though she clearly remembers falling asleep on the couch. She has the vaguest memory of her dreams; something about being on the beach in Havana, and Michael Corleone was holding her in his arms and kissing her on the neck. She scratches her head and gets up slowly. She can still smell the bacon and eggs and that should not be the case. After all, she lives her alone, and Woo Bin would have let himself out last night. Her eyes narrow. "Oh, no. He didn't."

She tromps out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, confirming her suspicion. Her jaw drops. "What are you doing here?"

Woo Bin turns around from the stove to look at her with an impish grin. "Making breakfast," he says, and adds in mangled English, "American style."

"You know that's not what I mean. Why didn't you go home last night? What are people going to think?" She glares at him and smacks his arm.

He shrugs nonchalantly, going back to tending the eggs. "I don't know, the elderly lady from across the hall seems to think I'm a nice young man for going grocery shopping so early. She says you need to eat more, because you're too skinny."

"What?" She smacks him again, and again for good measure but when she goes to hit him a third time, he jerks up the spatula threateningly. "That's enough. Cool it, warrior princess, and get some coffee." He points at the full pot in the corner. "Breakfast is ready."

Her stomach growls loudly, taking his side in the argument, the traitor. "Fine, but then you're out the door." She plops down into one of the two chairs at the breakfast bar and glares at him. She really wants some coffee, but she's not going to give him the satisfaction of following that order, too.

He chuckles and gets a mug out of the cabinet. "Actually, I was hoping you would show me the Empire State Building today." He places it in front of her and fills it, leaving room for milk. He turns away to bring their plates and get the milk out of the fridge. "I've never been."

"Bullshit," she says reflexively.

"Nope, I've never had the time. And this is only my second visit to the states."

She stabs into the eggs with gusto and shoves a forkful into her mouth. She's not going to play tour guide again. She's already in loads of trouble for the reception incident and if anyone who knows their family sees her hanging out with Woo Bin at the top of the Empire, her mother is going to go ballistic. That thought stops her for a moment. It would server her right. She looks up at Woo Bin and he's giving her the puppy eyes, looking at her from under those long lashes with just the hint of a pleading pout on his lips.

"Please?" He's really laying it on now.

She purses her lips and narrows her eyes at him, shoving another forkful of food in her mouth. "Fine." It comes out a little garbled around the eggs and bacon in her mouth, but he understands anyway and the pout is replaced with a brilliant smile on his face.

"Yes." He pumps his fist in victory and starts tucking into his own breakfast plate.

She's still wondering how he always gets his way with her when they're standing in front of the sink, cleaning up the dishes after breakfast.

About an hour later, they are taking the elevator up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building on the 86th floor. They are crammed in with a group of elementary school students on their field trip. Jae Kyung doesn't mind. She knew it would be this way, because there is not a single day in New York City that this landmark is not crowded with visitors. From the look on Woo Bin's face, she can tell he hadn't expected this.

"We should have bought a private tour," he mumbles under his breath, with an adorable frown on his face.

She laughs and bumps his arm with her shoulder. "Oh, come on. You can deal with it. It's part of the experience."

He takes a deep breath and exhales with a disgruntled sigh, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. Jae Kyung just snickers and leans back against the rail along the wall of the elevator, waiting patiently until the doors open and spill everyone else out in front of them.

"Come on," she says and grabs his arm, pulling him forward out onto the observation deck. "I hope you brought enough quarters. You'll miss out if you didn't."

Guiding them away from the group of school kids, she finds a spot along the north side of the building, where it's very windy and the crowd is thinner. She hops up to one of the mounted binoculars and pats it with her hand. "Here, you go first."

Despite her earlier threat, she pulls out a handful of quarters from her jeans pocket and holds it out to Woo Bin. He takes one and inserts it into the machine, then leans in to look through the two small holes, taking in the sight of the city below.

Jae Kyung feels the bite of the wind on her face and her hands are already freezing, but she presses her lips together and bears with it. She doesn't want to wait in line to get to one of the binoculars on the other side of the building where it's less windy. After a few more seconds, her patience wears thin. "Let me, let me."

She pushes him aside and he moves back with a grumble, letting her add another quarter and shove her face against the binoculars. "Ah, it's really pretty, isn't it? Almost like we're standing on top of Namsan Tower, right?"

A strong gust of wind blows past her and she shivers from the cold, rubbing her fingers to get some warmth back into the frozen digits. She looks up over her shoulder in surprise when she feels the warmth of his broad chest pressed against her back.

"You should have worn a thicker jacket," he says as he folds the sides of his jacket over her shoulders.

She's not sure why, but she turns around in his embrace, wraps her arms around his waist under the jacket and buries her face in his shoulder. He's so warm and she doesn't want to freeze anymore. She's only up here because of him, anyway. For a moment, he stands perfectly still and she's sure he's going to open his mouth and ruin things any second now. But then his arms come up and fold the jacket closed around her shoulders, hugging her back. She can hear his heartbeat, strong and a little bit fast. Ever so slowly, she moves her head to look up at him and her cheeks start to burn from the look he's giving her. Her mouth starts to form the shape of his name, but it never comes out because his lips are covering hers and it's a complete surprise. Her eyes flutter shut and she clutches at his shirt. The phone in her pocket starts ringing shrilly and she jerks back, stumbling a few steps away from him. She covers her guilty mouth with her fingers as she pulls out the phone and answers it, blinking rapidly at Woo Bin who is looking back at her with a lost expression on his face.

"Hello?" she says hesitantly.

"Where are you?" Her mother's voice is as shrill as the ring tone and snaps her out of her stupor.

"Downtown, why?" she asks suspiciously, waiting for another one of her mother's self-serving demands.

"Good, then you can be here in fifteen minutes. We'll be waiting for you at the Bryant Park Grill."

"Who's we?" she asks before her mother can hang up on her.

"Myself, as well as young Mr. Dam SunYoung, and his lovely parents. We have decided to arrange a marriage meeting for the two of you, to dispel those ugly and incorrect rumors about you and that no good rascal." Her mother is over-emphasizing the words, no doubt for the benefit of the other family who is listening to her end of the conversation.

"You're not serious." Jae Kyung feels something inside her snap at the thought of having to deal with this right now.

"Great, so I will see you in fifteen minutes. And don't be late." The tone in her mother's voice is chilly.

"Oh, I'll be there," she replies in a voice much icier than her mother's and hangs up the phone.

She looks back up at Woo Bin and where his expressions has always been an open book, it is now completely sealed shut.

"You have to go," he says without inflection.

She presses her lips together. They have so much to talk about right now, but first, she has to deal with her mother, once and for all. "Yes, I ..." She trails off. "It's my mother."

"I understand," he says with a polite nod, pulling his jacket closed around him.

Jae Kyung's eyes narrow as a plan starts to formulate in her head. She is going to teach her mother a lesson today.

"Actually, can I borrow that?" She points at his jacket. "I promise I'll bring it back to you unharmed."

He looks utterly confused, but shrugs off the jacket anyway and hands it to her.

"Thank you," she says as she shoves her arms into the long sleeves.

Looking up at him again, she impulsively rises up on her toes and gives him a quick hug. "I'll call you later, bye." She runs off before he can see her blush and leaves him on the observation deck as she rushes to get to Bryant Park.

Bryant Park Grill is a stylish restaurant at the back of the New York Public Library in the middle of the small park. Jae Kyung knows she is just shy of underdressed in her jeans and sneakers, and with Woo Bin's oversized leather jacket coming down halfway to her thighs. It's the perfect outfit to make a statement. She lets the waiter take her to the designated table, where she can see her mother sitting with an older married couple and a young guy in a blue suit who is sitting with his back to her. If she was a nicer person, she would pity him a little for what is about to happen.

"Jae Kyung!" Her mother's voice is full of reproach when she catches sight of her. "What on earth are you wearing?" She turns to the other couple and starts making apologies, but Jae Kyung seizes the opening.

"Oh, this?" She grabs the back of the empty chair and turns it around, straddling it casually as Ms. Dam gasps in shock and Mr. Dam makes a disapproving noise in his throat. "This is my boyfriend's jacket." She flaps the side of the jacket and winks exaggeratedly at the boy next to her, who looks like a dear caught in headlights. "Did she not tell you I have a boyfriend? I'm so sorry. She really shouldn't have led you here under false pretenses."

"Jae Kyung!" her mother screeches as Jae Kyung grabs the wine glass in front of the boy and downs it in a few big gulps, then lets rip a belch that turns the heads of several of the grill's patrons in their direction.

Her mother tries to grab her, but she shakes off her hand and continues with a sweet smile. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just so thirsty. Making out with my boyfriend always makes my mouth dry and I get really thirsty. Do you know what I mean?" She looks at the boy again and she swears he's trying to bite down on a grin from the way his lips twitch.

"Lies!" her mother sputters. "That's all lies," she pleads with the other parents. "Please, you have to believe me..."

"Actually, it's the truth," Jae Kyung interrupts her coolly. "We were just making out on the top of the Empire State Building when you called. He was nice enough to lend me his jacket because it was pretty cold up there, once I wasn't pressed up tightly against him."

Her mother slams her napkin down on the table, making the dishes clatter loudly. "Ha Jae Kyung, how dare you disrespect me like this? One more word out of your mouth and I will disown you."

She doesn't care. She's running on full steam and there is nothing her mother could say to stop her. "Do it. I don't care. I am done having you dictate my life and I'm not going to take another minute of it. It's my choice who I want to be with and my choice how I live my life. And if I want to be with Song Woo Bin, then I'll be with him and there is nothing you, or anyone, can do about it." She jumps up, flips the chair around and shoves it back into the table roughly, causing the dishes to clatter again. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see a waiter coming over. She's almost done, anyway.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dam," she says, "I apologize that you have wasted your time." Then she turns her head to the boy. "Good luck, kiddo." She winks at him again and turns around, walking away to the sound of her mother's outraged shrieking from the table.

Once she steps outside, she shoves her hands into the pockets of the jacket and takes a deep breath. She smells leather and Woo Bin's cologne and it makes her smile. She can't wait to tell him how she finally stuck it to her mother. A tap on her shoulder pulls her out of her thoughts and she turns around to see Dam Sun Young. He's smiling at her and she wonders why on earth he followed her out here.

"That was quite a show," he says, pointing his thumb back at the restaurant behind them.

"It was, wasn't it?" she says proudly, returning his smile. "You're not mad?" She's surprised that he doesn't seem the least bit insulted, even though she just caused quite a spectacle to embarrass him.

"Nah." He shakes his head. "I didn't want to be set up either, but I didn't have the heart to stand up to my parents."

"Ah." She nods sagely, but doesn't say anything else.

"You must really love that guy," he says with admiration in his voice. "Song Woo Bin, was it? He's a lucky guy."

Jae Kyung feels her cheeks flame up in embarrassment and the only thing that comes out of her mouth is unintelligible stuttering sounds. "Who…wha…I…uh…"

She wants to protest, because she really should set him straight on that. It wasn't anything like that. She just wanted to get her mother off her back, once and for all and Woo Bin was a nice guy, and attractive, and an amazing kisser, but it was nothing like that.

Sun Young is already waving his hands apologetically, staving off any protests. "It's okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you, or come on to you or anything like that." He grins, chagrined, and rubs the back of his head bashfully. "I just wanted to say thank you, really. You're a tough girl and I hope some day I'll be tough enough to do what you did." He looks back into the restaurant. "But, maybe in private."

Jae Kyung laughs shrilly, shoving away the nagging thoughts in her head. "Well, you're welcome," she says and gives him a friendly swat on his arm and veers away from the subject. "Your name suits you. You really are a good guy, Sun Young."

He chuckles awkwardly and looks at the floor. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

She grins. "Don't give up. You're cute enough, you'll find someone eventually." She rubs his shoulder one more time and steps back. "Well, I'm off." With another quick wave, she turns around and walks away quickly to disappear into the crowd.

Taking the subway back to her place gave her time to clear her head. Twenty minutes and one transfer later, she opens the door of her apartment, ready to settle down and order some lunch. She'll call Woo Bin after and let him know that he can have his jacket back, no worse for the wear. Her foot catches on something as she steps through the door and she frowns in confusion at the blue envelope as she picks it up. It only says her name on the back of it, with no postmarks or anything to identify where it came from. Curiously, she opens it up and pulls out a folded sheet of pale blue stationery, and what looks like a folded check. The writing on the letter is unfamiliar, but a little messy, like it was written hastily. She starts to read.

Jae Kyung,

You are holding this letter because I have always been weak when it comes to saying goodbye. As you are reading this, I am already on a plane headed back to Seoul. I want to thank you for four amazing days and three exciting nights in New York. I will never forget them. You have given me so much, but there is one more thing I have to ask of you. The favor I am asking of you is this: please, forget about me. Much like Michael Corleone, I am caught up in my family's business for better or worse. Unlike Michael, I will not make empty promises, or lie to you and say that in five years my family will be completely legitimate. But while I do not believe that I have the choice to escape, I can choose to not let you become involved in my fate. So, I am letting you go, my Apollonia, before anything can happen to you. Please, accept my sincerest apology and grant me this favor.

Love,

Song Woo Bin

P.S. I am a man of my word, so I am enclosing a blank check. This will allow me to keep my promise and let you go shopping anywhere you want. I won't be there to see you smile, but that is not important, as long as you are smiling.

Her fingers are numb and her heart is pounding in her chest as her eyes skim over the words again. He left. He wrote her this beautiful, cheesy, heart-wrenching letter, even calling her 'his Apollonia', and then he just left. She blinks quickly over and over again as her eyes start to sting. "You stupid…"

The letter and check drop from her hand and she spins around, breaking into a run. He is not going to get away like this. There is no way he's already on a plane. She only left him at the Empire State less than an hour ago. She can still catch him. The only flights from New York to Seoul leave out of JFK. She just has to get there in time. She pushes the button for the elevator impatiently, and when it still doesn't show up, she dashes towards the stairs, rushing down the 12 stories in record time. She grabs the first yellow cab on the street, pushing a guy in a suit out of the way. "JFK airport, as quickly as you can, please." She hands the driver her credit card to prove that she can afford it.

"What's the rush?" he asks as he pulls out into traffic and cuts off three other cars to get into the left lane.

"I gotta catch a stupid carp before he flies off to Korea," she responds and sinks back into her seat, her leg jittering with nervous energy. They're only halfway down 9th Ave and it looks like the cabby wants to take a left on 42nd. "No! We'll get stuck, take it down to 34th and we'll get to the tunnel from there." She smacks the back of his seat and he winces but complies anyway. She prays that the Midway Tunnel isn't completely backed up. She has to make it there in time.

The taxi comes to a screeching halt at the international departures Terminal 2 and Jae Kyung barely remembers to grab her credit card before she flies out of the backdoor and hurls herself at the sliding doors. She almost barrels over a lady with a trolley and throws an apology over her shoulder as she keeps running. She has to catch him before he goes through security or it's all over. Her eyes scan the faces of a thousand people, looking for him until she reaches the giant flight board, searching feverishly for the flight to San Francisco that connects to the plane for Seoul. The estimated departure time is thirty-five minutes from now. They will already be boarding. "Shit!"

She pumps her legs harder, running like a mad woman towards the security checkpoint, hoping against hope that he's still in line because there were enough stupid people who didn't take their shoes and jewelry off. She knows she has to be catching the attention of the TSA, but she doesn't care, as long as she gets there in time. Her lungs are burning and she can barely breathe but she keeps running until she reaches the checkpoint, scanning frantically for him through the waiting lines. Her eyes discard every blonde, brunette and redhead, ignoring the women in the crowd as she looks for his dark, mussed up hair and broad shoulders. She makes a sound like a wounded animal when she doesn't see a sign of him anywhere and screeches in shock when somebody grabs her by the arm. Whirling around, she's already starting to call his name when she realizes that the person who grabbed her is a middle-aged lady in a TSA uniform. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you…"

Jae Kyung doesn't hear the rest of the sentence because the blood is rushing too loudly in her ears and her vision blurs as she starts to cry. "He's gone," she chokes out the words through her dry throat and burning lungs. "I'm too late, he's gone."

When she realizes the lady is looking at her uncomfortably with a suspicious glare in her eyes, she repeats herself in English, trying to sound calmer. "I'm sorry. I was…" She trails off with a sniffle and continues past the lump in her throat. "I was trying to catch the boy I like, but he's gone already." She looks up at the lady, pleading for understanding with her eyes, willing her to understand.

"Oh." The TSA agent makes a gruff noise in her throat and shakes her head. "You should still not be running in the airport."

Jae Kyung nods. It was a risky thing to do, with airport security the way it is these days, but she didn't care when she thought she still had a chance to catch Woo Bin before he left. "I know, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

The TSA agent clucks her tongue in disapproval, but lets go of her arm after another moment. "Well, if your business here is finished, you should leave; calmly." She stresses the last word with a stern glare.

Jae Kyung nods hastily and wipes her nose. She's made enough of a spectacle of herself. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Out of habit, she bows quickly to the lady before she turns around and leaves the way she came from, slowly.

Her heart is broken. She doesn't look up to see the planes fly away. Woo Bin is still somewhere at this airport, but he might as well be gone. He left her, with nothing but a letter and a blank check signed with his name. He doesn't want to see her again. The letter said as much. He wants her to forget him. She doesn't think she can. She exits slowly through the sliding doors and hangs her head in defeat. She can still smell the leather and his cologne on his jacket. Her eyes tear up again. He left her his jacket too. How cruel is he, telling her to forget him, but leaving her with his jacket so his smell could haunt her even when he is gone. She sniffles and wipes her nose on the sleeve. She doesn't care if she gets it dirty. It's hers now, and she'll make the smell come out of it sooner rather than later. She'll show him. Raising her chin in resolve, she pulls out her cell phone and opens a new text message. All she types are two words and an exclamation point.

"You suck!" Once the message is sent, she blocks Woo Bin's number and then deletes it from her address book. She'll show him what it means to be forgotten.

2 Years Later

Being back in Seoul feels weird, like wearing your old high-school uniform for the five year reunion. It still fits, but at the same time it feels all wrong. She wishes she had just declined. But her little sis Jan Di had asked her to come for her graduation from medical school and Jae Kyung didn't have it in her to refuse. So, she had bought an outrageously expensive stethoscope and a little less outrageously expensive white lab-coat, packed her bags and gotten on the twenty-eight hour flight from New York to Seoul, with stop over in San Francisco. She booked a suite in the Ritz-Carlton and promised herself to avoid 'that person' at any cost. It had taken months to get the smell out of her favorite jacket and even longer to get thoughts of him out of her head. Truthfully, that last part was still an ongoing process. Jan Di's graduation is still three days away and she has yet to make her presence known. She hates herself for being such a coward, but the chance is just too great that she might bump into 'him' if she visits Jan Di at Yoon Ji Hoo's house. Enough is enough, though, so that's why she's here, on the Shinhwa Campus, waiting for Jan Di so she can finally hug her little sister again and congratulate her on passing the last exams. She's a little early, but that gives her time to prepare herself, because she knows she's going to get yelled at for not meeting up earlier. She's just rounded the corner towards the main campus building when she stops short at the shout of a man coming from the right. She recognizes him immediately and ducks behind the marble wall next to her.

Woo Bin is wearing a short brown leather jacket, more stylish than the one she is wearing right now, over an orange t-shirt paired with tight black jeans. He's holding a bouquet of flowers and looks very attractive and very angry. She sneaks a little closer, her heart beat rolling like thunder in her chest as she watches him stalk up to a pretty, long-legged girl in an orange sun dress and grab her by the arm. Jae Kyung has no problem making out the words he's saying as he turns her around and says, "What's the reason?"

The girl's voice is a lot lower, and she has to strain to hear her response. "I'm sick of it, your kindness."

Jae Kyung blinks in confusion as the girl turns away from Woo Bin with tears in her eyes and walks away in long, graceful strides.

"Don Juan got dumped," she whispers under her breath and starts to smile.

She jumps in shock when he screams in rage and hurls the bouquet of flowers onto the ground. The look on his face is a mixture of frustration and rage that makes her breath catch in her throat. She slowly starts walking backwards to get away from him. The last thing she wants right now is to have to confront him. She's not ready for that. When she bumps into someone from behind she jumps about a mile in the air, her scream of shock only drowned out by the yell from the other person. "Hey, Ha Jae Kyung! It's about time you showed up! Why did you make me wait so long?"

Jae Kyung whirls around and grabs Jan Di before she can say anymore, pulling her further away from the main campus even as she's hugging her forcefully. "I'll explain later, come on, let's go get some coffee," she says quickly in a hushed voice. "Then you can yell at me all you want. Somewhere not here."

They are sitting in a small street café and Jae Kyung is successfully hiding her identity behind oversized sunglasses and a baseball cap. She picks up her coffee cup and looks over Jan Di properly for the first time. "Your hair grew a lot." She smiles at the childish braids that reach down past her friends shoulder. "It looks cute."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Jan Di says stubbornly and sits her own cup down with a harsh clank. "So, spill. Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were coming? I could've picked you up from the airport."

The accusatory tone makes Jae Kyung wince. "It's complicated," she says evasively.

"What's complicated?" Jan Di puffs out her cheeks in annoyance and gives her a stern look. "You're my big sister, and you should have called me and let me pick you up."

Jae Kyung sighs. She never told Jan Di about what happened two years ago in New York. Then it hadn't felt right to drag her into things and now, she didn't know if she could explain it without sounding like an idiot.

"And what's with the whole…" She trails off and makes a circular motion around her face, trying to indicate Jae Kyung's disguise.

"That…that's complicated, too," she says lamely.

Jan Di huffs again and shakes her head. "You look like a fighter pilot with the glasses and that jacket." Suddenly, her brows furrow and she looks like she's thinking really hard. "Have I seen that jacket before?"

Jae Kyung almost chokes on her coffee and hastily puts down the cup. "Don't be silly, we haven't seen each other in five years. I wouldn't wear the same jacket for that long.

Jan Di nods slowly. "I guess, but I could swear I've seen this jacket before."

"Nah, you must mistake it for someone else's." Jae Kyung waves her off, hoping she'll drop the subject.

"Ah! Woo Bin!" Jan Di proclaims exuberantly.

"What? Where?" Jae Kyung jerks up, looking around wildly as she tries to figure out which way to escape before he sees her.

"No, Woo Bin has a jacket like that." Jan Di explains and Jae Kyung nearly dies from relief. "He used to wear it all the time, but then one day he just stopped wearing it. That was right around the time he came back from…New…York…" Jan Di still has a finger pointed at her jacket and Jae Kyung can tell the exact moment that the penny drops and her little sister finally connects the dots.

"Jae Kyung. Big sis," Jan Di says ominously. "Fess up, right now."

Jae Kyung closes her eyes in defeat and sinks deeply into her chair, pulling the baseball cap as far over her face as it will go.

She is never going to keep another secret from Geum Jan Di for the rest of her life. Sparing her the humiliation is just not worth the trouble when her little sis eventually finds out. That lecture had been worse than anything her mother could have dished out in her wildest dreams. The only reason Jae Kyung was finally able to escape was because Jan Di was meeting Jun Pyo for dinner and didn't have time to lecture her anymore. She never thought she would feel this amount of gratitude towards the arrogant bastard. Even now, hours later, Jan Di's words are still ringing in her head.

"You can't let boys being stupid stop you. Think about it, where would me and Jun Pyo be, if I had let his stupidity stop me?"

Jae Kyung shakes her head, trying to dispel the nagging voice of her little sister in her head.

"And you can't let your own stubbornness get in the way either. If you like him, you've got to tell him."

As if it was that easy. He'd all but told her to forget him and that he didn't want to be with her. There is no way she could just show up and tell him she likes him. She doesn't even want to like him anymore. And it's been two years. And he's had a girlfriend in the meantime.

"Just because you've both met other people doesn't mean you can't still tell him."

Jae Kyung growls in frustration and hurls herself out of bed. It's four in the morning and she can't sleep because the nagging voice of Jan Di won't leave her alone to get some peace. She decides she might as well go out and take a walk. It's not like she's going to get any sleep anyway. She pulls on her sneakers and throws her leather jacket over her shoulders, ready to get those pesky thoughts out of her head.

Without realizing it, her feet carry her back to the campus of Shinhwa High-School and University. She finds herself walking up the marble stairs towards the main campus building and stops short when she notices someone sitting on the stairs in front of it. At this time of day, she didn't expect to find another living soul out around these parts. Her eyes widen when she recognizes the young man in the light trench-coat and black pants. She's about to turn on her heel and walk away as fast as her feet can carry her when the nagging voice of her little sister stops her in her tracks.

"You can't be a coward forever. Don't make me have to intervene!"

She takes a deep breath and opens her mouth. "Hey!" The greeting comes out harsher than she meant it to.

His head comes up immediately and she takes in the look of complete surprise and recognition on his face with a satisfied smile. He opens his mouth and flounders completely, nothing but garbled sounds coming out of his mouth.

She laughs and walks closer to him, noticing the singular clover leaf he's holding between his fingers. She snatches it up and twirls it between her fingers. "Not a bouquet, but I guess it'll do," she mutters as he keeps staring at her, completely flummoxed.

"I don't accept your apology," she says more loudly. "And I won't do you that favor, either."

For a moment, she looks at him searchingly, wondering if he understands that she is referencing a letter he wrote to her two years ago. From the way his eyes widen and he swallows heavily, she is pretty sure that he knows exactly what she's talking about. He gets up slowly and his hand starts and stops halfway to her arm before he drops it again.

"Jae Kyung, I…"

She brings up her hand to interrupt him before he can say anything stupid. "I'm not finished."

He swallows heavily and nods, closing his mouth and pressing his lips tightly together as he waits for her to continue.

"Even if your family won't become legitimate, and even if you're stuck having to deal with them."

He opens his mouth again to say something, and again she brings up her hand, pointing a sharp finger at his nose. "Not finished." He stars at her finger cross-eyed but thankfully holds his peace.

"And even if I get hurt in the process," she continues as she pulls out a folded piece of paper from the breast pocket of her jacket. "You still owe me a shopping trip and I'm not letting you off that easy." She unfolds the paper and shows him the blank check he wrote out to her two years ago, still void of any ink except his signature on the bottom.

It makes a satisfying sound as she slowly tears it down the middle and then tears the pieces again and slowly lets them drop to the ground between them. "Got that?" She finishes, her voice a little more shaky than she likes, because she was really going for a strong statement here. Her heart is beating like a hammer inside her chest and she looks at him expectantly, waiting for his response. She's put her cards on the table, and Jan Di's voice in her head has finally, blissfully, terrifyingly, shut up and now there is nothing to fill the silence between them. She holds her breath as she prepares herself for the worst.

She is totally unprepared when he just reaches out and pulls her against him, hugging her so tightly that the air rushes out of her in a shocked gasp. She smells the leather from her jacket and the cologne she has secretly missed for so long. Her eyes sting and she closes them tightly as she wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him back just as fiercely. And then she hears him whisper in her ear; two little words that only they would know the true meaning of. "You suck."

The End.


End file.
